The Bonds Between Them
by Battypichugirl2
Summary: Ed and Scar couldn't be more different. But one day Alphonse is kidnapped, and Ed can't turn to the military to save him. Can they get past their differences to help him before it's too late? Ed/Scar/Roy -later on- friendship fic. Not yaoi at /all/.
1. Chapter 1: Wounded

**The Bonds Between Them**

**Disclaimer: **I'm not awesome enough to own FMA. -bows down to the awesomeness-

**A/N:** This takes place after the events of Lab 5, but before Hughes's death, to give you an idea of the time frame. There are two unfortunate plot holes, involving the fact that Scar leaves with several other Ishbalan refugees directly after episode 24 and isn't seen again until Lior, and that I don't think Mustang has been transferred back to Central yet, but I hope you'll overlook them. ; Hope you enjoy, and please review!

Chapter 1: Wounded

Several shots rang out through the streets of Central. Otherwise it was a beautiful, crisp, August afternoon, the bright sunshine reflecting over the many puddles that adorned the city after last week's scattered rain showers, and creating small rainbows. The streets weren't quite as busy as they would be in an hour or two, as most people were still either at school or at work.

"Get him! Before he escapes!"

For a certain by-now-infamous Ishbalan, the relative quiet made the morning and early afternoon the perfect time to move about and enjoy the sunshine on the main streets for once, instead of skulking about alleyways. It usually worked out for the man, who would quickly duck back into the alleys around 5 pm, when the city streets began to bustle with activity once more. Unfortunately, Scar wasn't quite so lucky this time--he had been spotted by two military officers on patrol, and yet again, the chase began.

The Ishbalan was doing pretty well eluding them at first--he had been doing this for the past few months, after all--but eventually they outsmarted him. The two soldiers had been dutifully chasing the state's military enemy #1, when suddenly one of them stopped, tugged on the other's sleeve, and whispered something into his ear. Then they just turned around and started to walk away. Scar didn't notice this odd turn of events at first, and quickly ducked into an alley, hoping to lose them once and for all. He then finally looked back over his shoulder, and breathed a soft sigh of relief when he saw the soldiers were no longer following him.

And that was when he saw the two guns about half a foot away from him, pointed at his head. Crap. The Ishbalan leaped back in shock, and rapidly began to walk backwards, hoping to be able to make it to the street proper and break into a run before the soldiers got a good enough fix on him to fire, all the while cursing himself for not noticing that they had stopped following and gone a different way.

He was unfortunately just a bit too slow. Gunshots reverberated around the alleyway again just as the Ishbalan was nearing its exit. Scar managed to dodge the first round of bullets, the second, but as he was twisting his body around to evade the second, one of the soldiers fired again. Scar never stood a chance that time, and his body crumpled to the floor in pain. The soldiers had been close enough that the bullet had gone right through him and lodged in the opposite wall, cracking two pairs of ribs on its way.

"We got him!"

The soldiers seemed rather pleased with their accomplishment, but before they had a chance to finish him off, Scar pressed his right palm to the ground, knocking the two men off-balance. He then activated his arm again to make the ground underneath his attackers crumble, dumping them in the same sewer system that he usually used to escape them.

_I have...to get out...of--out of...here..._ It wasn't safe to remain in this alley. Those soldiers would probably call for help, and then... He managed to crawl a few inches forward, but the pain was clouding his mind, and his vision had gotten all blurry, and...he couldn't...

"Damn...it..."

Everything went black as he finally stopped fighting a losing battle and allowed himself to fall into the dark void of unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2: Found

Chapter 2: Found

"Do you...do you think he's gonna be all right?"

"Yeah. He should be fine, Al. It'll take more'n that to take Scar down for good."

_Uhhhnn._ The tan face scrunched slightly, and then the eyelids started to flutter open, revealing crimson eyes.

"If he doesn't get some treatment, he'll die though, Brother. He's bleeding..."

"Heh, I can fix that, easy."

His side ached and burned with pain, and there was a...red, sticky substance all over his right hand where it lay on his side. Blood. His blood. The softest of groans escaped him, just barely loud enough for even him to hear, as the eyes closed again.

He could hear two people talking, but couldn't really understand what was being said. Though, he heard mention of a name, Scar. Why did that sound...so familiar to him? The man opened his eyes once more and tried to focus his vision, see who was talking, but found himself unable to. Before him were two people. One was short and blonde. The other was tall, and was...in a suit of armor? He just barely had time to think that was odd before his eyes closed again, and he passed out once more.

_Clap._

"Brother! Don't do that!"

The other speaker looked up from his position on his knees next to the fallen Ishbalan. "What? I thought you wanted me to stop the bleeding."

"Yeah, but Brother, you know how he feels about alchemy, and it's going to be odd for him to wake up and find his shirt turned into bandages..."

The first speaker's brother scowled at this, brows deeply furrowed. Edward Elric was a no-nonsense sort of guy. He wasn't going to let someone's personal beliefs cause him to bleed to death. He didn't even believe in a god. And what the hell was he? A bloody nurse to carry bandages around with him?! No, he was an alchemist. And when an alchemist didn't have the supplies he needed, he would transmute them from something else. Simple as that.

"Think about it Al. He can either die from blood loss, or be a bit weirded out by the alchemy I did on his clothing. Which is better?"

"But...couldn't you do it...without alchemy?"

The older Elric was starting to grind his teeth in frustration. He didn't even need to be _doing_ this. Not for Scar, the state military's most wanted criminal. Not for the one who killed Nina...

"And in the time it takes for me to get bandages, come up with an excuse for why I need them that _doesn't_ involve my helping _Scar_ of all people, and come back, he'll be that much closer to bleeding to death. Or getting his wounds infected; this alley's filthy."

Alphonse sighed; he knew this wouldn't go over well when the man woke up, but he finally nodded.

"Good." Ed just briefly lifted Scar's shirt to see just where he was wounded, and another clap sounded and there was a bright blue flash of light as he laid his hands on the white fabric of Scar's shirt. In Ed's defense, only the bottom half of the shirt looked any different.

"So now what do we do?" the younger Elric asked when the task was done.

"Nothing."

"What? We can't just leave him here--he'll die!"

"No he won't, Al. We stopped his bleeding, his breathing is steady, doesn't seem like he's in any danger of going into shock..."

"That's not what I mean, Brother!" Alphonse cried indignantly.

"So what _do_ you mean?" his brother snapped back.

Alphonse let out another sigh and looked back at Scar. "If we just leave him here..." he began slowly, "the military will find him and capture him and he won't even be able to put up a fight!"

"And that's our problem because...?"

"But Brother! What about equivalent exchange?"

Edward Elric froze at that. Despite all his cynicism and lack of any religious perceptions whatsoever, equivalent exchange was something that Ed did believe in. Everyone had to believe in something after all--without something to create hope, one was liable to go insane, and Ed was still a child after all, no matter how one looked at it. "...So? W-What about equivalency?!" he demanded, voice slightly unsteady.

"He saved us at Lab 5...if it hadn't been for him, then the homunculi would've..." he trailed off, armored body seeming to shudder.

Ed sighed, knowing when he was cornered, but still made a valiant attempt to refuse.

"So what do you want to do, Al? Stuff him inside your armor and take him to HQ?" he chuckled nervously at his own joke.

"Brother, that's a _great_ idea!"

Ed stared at him, dumbstruck, for a moment. "N-no! It's not!" he cried. Holy crap, he'd just added fuel to the proverbial fire.

"Pleaaaaase, brother? Pleaaaaaaase?" The younger Elric gave a plaintive cry, and the biggest puppy-dog eyes Ed had ever seen, metaphorical or otherwise.

Ed wanted to say no. He really. Desperately. Wanted to. But he hesitated.

_No. Absolutely not. Out of the question. There is no way I'm going to let Al shove _Scar_ of all people into his armor and carry him to Central Headquarters._

"..."

But Ed still continued to hesitate.

_I don't care how many times he asks; I'm not gonna do it! What, every time Al gives me that look, he thinks I'm just going to melt and say 'Sure Al, go right ahead!'? Well, he's wrong this time! I won't do it! I won't, I won't, I won't, I--_

"...Fine, Al." The teenage alchemist sighed and cursed himself for giving in so easily. But if they were going to do this, they might as well do it in a smart way.

"Okay, Al, I'm going on ahead to HQ. You start heading that way too in about fifteen minutes--I'll use the time it takes for me to get there to come up with some story about why you're not there. When you do get there, just go straight into our room and don't open the door for anyone. _Anyone_, got that Al?"

The boy nodded, and waved a hand as he watched his brother go. He would've smiled if he could; his brother really had a heart of gold, as much as he hated to admit it.

**A/N: Whoo. Doneeee. Ch. 2 was so much longer. owo But I like it. Especially the part with Al's puppy-dog-eyes. -squees-  
**


	3. Chapter 3: Calm Down

**A/N: Poor Allyphonse doesn't get too big of a role in this story, unfortunately. Even though the eventual plot will have to do mostly with him. In fact, after about, chapter seven or so, you won't see him at all until near the end of the story, so enjoy him now while you caaaaan. He even gets a chapter almost all to himself due to this fact. -pokes this new chapter- **

Chapter 3: Calm Down

Five minutes had passed since Edward had left his brother to head to Central HQ. In retrospect, maybe it hadn't been the _best_ of ideas to leave his little brother with a serial killer, but he _was_ injured after all. And, Ed figured, Scar had said once before something about 'swearing before God' that he wouldn't hurt Al. And sure, maybe _he_ didn't believe in god, but Scar sure seemed pretty religious...

Not to mention, Al had been right about Lab 5. After what had transpired there, he felt pretty secure in the belief that at the very least, Scar wouldn't kill Alphonse.

The diminutive State Alchemist sighed as the imposing figure of Central Headquarters came into view, utterly dreading having to go in and stare at Mustang's smug face and keep him and his subordinates busy while Al snuck in, hopefully unnoticed, and hid Scar in their room. But he supposed it had to be done...

--

Now that he had time to think about it clearly, Alphonse Elric was beginning to think that maybe stuffing Scar in his armor and hauling him off to HQ wasn't as 'great' an idea as he had first thought. After all, he had said it himself: Scar didn't care much for alchemy, and here he was, literally the embodiment of alchemy. A hollow suit of armor animated by the alchemic blood seal that attached his soul to the metal. If Scar would be slightly taken aback by the alchemy done on his shirt, waking up inside a hollow suit of animated armor would practically make the poor Ishbalan jump out of his skin.

Maybe...if Scar woke up before fifteen minutes passed, he could explain to the Ishbalan why he needed to climb inside the armor. He could just hear his brother's sarcastic response: _That'd go over_ so_ well, wouldn't it, Al?_ The younger Elric sighed, wondering what he would do in the event that being stuck inside his armor did spook the Ishbalan...

His thoughts were interrupted by a groan. "Are you awake, Scar?" he asked gently. The man shifted slightly in his sleep, but otherwise Al got no response. "...Guess not." The Ishbalan shifted again, and this time he really did awaken. And almost immediately, it became apparent that although his body had awakened, his mind had yet to follow.

"Scar, you _are_ awake!"

The voice sounded like that of a young child. But it's owner was about seven feet tall and in a suit of armor. If he had been fully awake and functional, Scar would have recognized Alphonse immediately, wouldn't have been afraid; but for someone who had just regained consciousness, it was slightly intimidating to see the suit or armor kneeling at his side and hovering mere inches from his face. A small yelp of surprise escaped him, and he started to attempt to scoot backwards, but a firm metallic hand kept him in place.

"Scar, please! Don't try to move around; you're injured!" Unfortunately, the panicked tone of Al's voice as well as the hand he held firmly on the Ishbalan's torso only served to scare the man further out of his wits.

The man swung out an arm at the hand, struggling to escape. Everything in the man's half-awake mind screamed _'Danger, danger!'_ and his rising panic continued to disallow him from recognizing the boy. Al flinched as Scar's right arm hit him, expecting it to explode in a shower of metallic shrapnel, but it didn't. It seemed Scar was too afraid to have thought of it. But as these thoughts whirled through the younger Elric's head, the wounded man continued to struggle against the arm that held him in place.

"Please, Scar," Al begged, "Please stop. You're going to hurt yourself!"

"W-who are you?!" came the strangled, desperate cry of the panicked Ishbalan.

"I'm..." Al hesitated for a few moments, "I'm Alphonse Elric. You know who I am, don't you?"

Scar didn't respond, and continued to struggle, basic instinct for survival blocking out all rational thought.

"Please stop Scar. Please. I'm not going to hurt you. I wouldn't do that...Won't you please stop?" Al was now every bit as desperate as Scar, but he forced his tone to be a little less panicked, almost soothing as he implored the man to stay still.

It took a minute or two of Al repeating words to the effect of 'I'm not going to hurt you' before Scar finally calmed down and stopped struggling. Now relaxed, he then finally fell asleep out of exhaustion. Al watched him sleep for a few minutes, smiling (although his metallic face could not show it), before he opened up his chest plate, and gently put the Ishbalan inside. It wasn't that far to HQ; he could make it back before Scar awoke.


	4. Chapter 4: Hiding Scar

**A/N: Bahaha, Scar was rather ooc in the last chapter. But he's like, half-awake, so seeing Al hovering over him like that spooked him. 3 This chapter is again mostly about Alphonse, but it'll also have some of the Mustang gang. Wooooo **

Chapter 4: Hiding Scar

Alphonse was trying to walk as quietly as possible, but unfortunately every step he took was punctuated by a rather loud 'clank'. Consequently, he had decided rather early on that he would take the shortest route possible. But so far, it didn't seem like there was any danger of Scar waking up any time soon. The man had even started snoring a few minutes ago. Hehe, snoring. The thought made Al giggle softly. The younger Elric had always known that Scar was a good man at heart, even though he disagreed strongly with the Ishbalan's methods... But still, when one was used to seeing the tough, angry side of Scar, it was odd to imagine the same person as sleeping peacefully inside his armor...

That was when a thought struck him. Oh god, people would be able to hear the snoring from inside his armor. And obviously _he_ would not be snoring; he didn't even need to breathe! He needed to cover up that snoring, oh god, oh god, how was he going to hide the snoring?! The younger Elric's mind raced as he tried to come up with a solution for this current predicament. Maybe once he got to HQ, he could just walk faster so that the clanking would drown out the snoring? Nono...if he did that, the noise would wake Scar, and then everything would go to hell.

Maybe...he could start humming? Yeah...that could possibly work. Al was enough of a cheerful person that people wouldn't get too suspicious about it. It was a good thing that he didn't have his brother's reputation for sulkiness, for if one were to see Edward Elric humming cheerily as he walked down the streets of Central, one would think that either the boy had had _faaaaaar_ too much ice cream, or something was going on.

It was still a little awkward though, and Alphonse garnered quite a few odd stares from passerby (even more so than usual) as he continued to clank-clank along towards the Headquarters.

...

Another ten minutes later, Al arrived at the front gates to Central Headquarters. He got inside without much incident, and was hoping to rocket up the stairs and lock himself inside his and Ed's room when...

"Heyyyy, Al! Good to see you!" Alphonse flinched as he heard the familiar, overly-cheerful voice behind him. Under different circumstances, he would have been delighted to talk to the man--they had known Hughes since even before Ed had become a State Alchemist, and he was a great friend of theirs. But now, he _really_ didn't have time to listen as the Investigations officer went through all his god-knew-how-many pictures of Elysia with his delighted cries of "Isn't she adorable?!" when it could wake Scar and put both him and Ed in very, very hot water.

"Oh...hey, Hughes. Good to see you too. How are you?"

"I'm _greaaaat_. Did you know I'm teaching Elysia to swim now? She follows me around like a little duck in the water! And her new pink bathing suit is soooo adorable and it matches her water wings and--"

"Hey, Hughes, um, sorry to interrupt, but I have to go see Brother..." And with that, he started to run off towards their room. Hughes seemed slightly disappointed, but he grinned and waved the boy off, a glint in his eyes as he (thought) he knew what Al was really going to do. Ed had made a point to circulate the story that Al had found a box with a litter of kittens off in an alley somewhere, and the reason he wasn't with him was that he was feeding them and such since he had insisted that Al couldn't keep them.

So obviously everyone at HQ figured, knowing Al, that he had returned with the kittens hidden in his armor and was planning to keep them in their room for the moment so that Ed wouldn't catch him with his armor meowing again.

Al had hoped, now, he could get to his room without any further interruptions. He soon found out, though, that he wasn't going to be quite so lucky. He had only gotten a few feet closer to his room and safety when a large, muscled man with disturbing pink sparkles hovering above his body approached him.

"Greetings, Alphonse!" came the booming voice of Major Armstrong. The younger Elric cringed inwardly at this new impediment to getting himself and Scar safely locked inside the room.  
"Hi, Major," he answered half-heartedly, but before he could excuse himself again, the ridiculously-over-muscled Armstrong spoke up again. "It's good to see you and your brother again! I--"

"Hey, um Major!" Al called out, interrupting him as he was suddenly struck with an idea, "Why don't you go see Hughes--there were some new pictures of Elysia he was showing off and I couldn't stay to look at them because I have to go see Brother, but I'm sure he'd love to show you instead. Plus, I'm sure you could show him some of those amazing things you keep telling us about being passed 'down the Armstrong line for generations'?" And without waiting for answer, Al very quickly clanked down the hallway away from Armstrong. Maybe he and Hughes could keep each other busy for a while...

The stairway leading to his room was in sight now; he was almost there. A few more steps...Almost, almost. He kept walking, getting closer and closer to the stairs and right into...Lieutenant Havoc?!

The boy inwardly groaned. Not _again_. Why did this keep happening to him?

"Oh, I'm s-sorry, Lieutenant Havoc!" he cried, as the blond-haired man turned to face him, friendly grin on his face, the usual cigarette hanging limply between his teeth.

"Hey Al!" the lieutenant greeted cheerily, "Long time no see. How are you and Ed doing?"

"I'm fine, thanks," he answered as pleasantly as he could under the circumstances, backing away slowing as he spoke. "Brother's nice and grumpy, as usual," he added with a slight chuckle.

"Oh yeah--saw your brother earlier. He sure seemed miffed about something. Maybe it was the kittens..."

Kittens? Al supposed it had something to do with whatever story Ed had devised to explain Al's arrival at HQ after his own. Ah well, he supposed he'd do well to put on a good act, for all of their sakes.

"But! Those kittens were by all by themselves, and they seemed hungry and lonely," he whined, all his characteristic innocent charm showing through as Al rapidly scooted up the stairs. It helped for him to imagine that he really was sneaking a cat into his room rather than the state's number one military enemy. "I had to help them..."

The lieutenant grinned, and gave the boy a friendly wave as he started to walk away himself. "Well, if your brother comes along, I promise I won't tell him you're sneaking in new kittens."

"Thank you!" Al shouted as he waved to Havoc, giving a slight sigh of relief when the man was gone. Yes, he was only five steps away from getting into his room. Just five. Four. Three...

"Hello, Al."

_Not again!_

This time it was Hawkeye who had greeted him, he found as he whirled to see the blonde woman smiling at him from the bottom of the stairs.

Al waved back at her, and this time he was in luck. She, unlike the other lieutenant and Hughes and Armstrong, did not stop to engage in conversation, chuckling softly to herself as she allowed the younger Elric to go about his supposed business smuggling cats into their room.

Al didn't even take the last three steps slowly. He practically jumped up the last three steps, not even caring if it woke Scar by this point. The door was swung open and he quickly locked himself inside. Yes! He had finally made it. He and Scar were safe. For now, at least.

**A/N: -snerks- It just isn't Al's day for sneakiness, is it? And coming up next are my two favorite chapters of what I have planned so far. The Colonel himself makes his grand entrance!**


	5. Chapter 5: Busted!

**A/N: I'm sorry this is so late. Bundles of little things have come up. I've spent three days trying to get just the last four or five paragraphs down on paper. Okay so. This is going to be pretty much the last Al-centric chapter. The next one will be mostly Roy-centric, and then it'll go back to Scar-centric-ness. xD Sorry, Al fans! But you still get to see him for a few more chapters Oh, I'll warn you in advance that this chapter is _really_ long. Sorry about that. xD But a lot of things needed to happen.**

Chapter 5: Big Trouble

Once he and Scar were safely locked inside, Al finally had the chance to open up his chestplate and let the Ishbalan back out. It appeared that he had shifted in his sleep, but despite all the noise and chatter and clanking, he hadn't awakened. Yet.

His thoughts were quickly interrupted by a loud groan, and Al froze as he thought Scar was about to awaken to find himself inside a living suit of armor, but the Ishbalan simply turned over (as much as he could turn over in that small, enclosed space), and Al sighed in relief. The younger Elric gently removed the man sleeping inside his armor and laid him on the bed, figuring he'd come up with a way to deal with the blood leaking out of the Ishbalan's side later. Now was the difficult process of hiding the fact that Scar had ever resided in his armor. Which was difficult to do considering the bloodstains on the interior of the suit and the present lack of water and something to scrub with.

Al had originally thought of just drawing a transmutation circle into the metal to make all the blood come out, but then he remembered he couldn't take that kind of risk with his blood seal. That was all that kept him bound to this world, after all.

After about ten minutes, the younger Elric finally gave up and decided to let Ed deal with it when he got back, hoping that none of the soldiers he had run into on his way inside had happened to notice the blood dripping from the torso of the armor, and that he wouldn't have any more unplanned interruptions. Al sighed softly, walking over to a corner where he could sit and watch Scar until he woke up. This time, he wouldn't make the mistake of being very close and and scaring him as he came to.

--

Two or three more hours passed, and the Ishbalan stirred a couple of times, but didn't awaken. Alphonse had zoned out by then--even though the boy couldn't truly go to sleep himself, after an hour or so of watching the sleeping Scar, his attention had dissipated. The room was almost completely silent, but for the wind, and the soft sound of the Ishbalan's breathing.

"Nghhh..."

A slight groan penetrated through the quiet of the room. Tan eyelids squeezed together briefly before pulling apart, exposing the slightly unfocused crimson eyes. The man blinked a couple of times to clear his field of vision, and began to sit up out of instinct. The sharp jolt of pain that instantly shot up his torso, however, dissuaded him from the attempt. He drew in several sharp, harsh breaths, and then relaxed, allowing his eyes to scan the room to see where he was. It appeared to be a room, with two beds, a table and a couch, with a few other objects scattered around the room. There were some sheets of paper strewn around near the table and couch, odd drawings that looked rather reminiscent of transmutation circles on some of those sheets, and a suit of armor sitting in the corner.

...Wait. A suit of armor?! The man got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he realized exactly where he happened to be. This was the Elric brothers' room, which meant _he_ was _inside_ a military headquarters. The slightest ounce of fear arose in his chest; he shouldn't be here. Him being here was like a wounded deer being in a lion's den.

"A-Al...phonse?" he called weakly, as if trying to confirm his suspicions.

The sound of Scar's voice was enough to bring Al's attention back to the present.

"Scar..." The younger Elric answered, getting to his feet as softly as he could, though unfortunately the armor made a several loud, metallic noises as the parts of his armor shifted and clanged together. And of course, the signature 'clank clank clank' of his walk was prominent as he made his way over to the bed.

"It's good to see that you _do_ remember me," Al remarked quietly, hoping that he wouldn't accidentally do something to scare the Ishbalan again.

"Wh-what...what do you mean?" One did not just forget a seven-foot, walking, talking suit of armor. But the way Alphonse had phrased the question suggested that he had behaved prior to this in a manner that suggested that he did _not_, in fact, remember him. And that made Scar very nervous, because the last thing he could recall was passing out in the alley. If something had happened between that time and waking up in this room, the Ishbalan did not know about it.

The younger Elric made a small noise of surprise and quickly explained. "Well...you see..." he began slowly, not sure how Scar would react, "the last time you woke up, you...well--you freaked out when you saw me, and tried to run away. I was afraid you'd hurt yourself, so I held you down, but that only seemed to make things worse and you were asking who I was..."

Maroon eyes widened as Al spoke. He had really reacted in such a way? It was embarrassing, to say the very least. "I...I don't remember that..."

This surprised Al as well, but before he could begin to ponder why Scar had no recollection of the incident, his thoughts were interrupted by a harsh, but seemingly muffled, cry of pain.

His head turned instantly towards the direction of the sound, and found Scar clutching his his side, body curled slightly inward. His eyes were squeezed shut, mouth slightly open as he breathed in and out and beads of sweat pouring down his face. Most noticeable was the erratic fashion in which his chest was heaving up and down, only tempered by the weight of his right arm laying across it.

"Scar! Are you all right?" Al cried, "Where does it hurt?" He quickly realized the stupidity of the question on both counts; someone who was gasping for breath in the manner that Scar was couldn't possibly be "all right," and his arm was clenched around his side, clearly signaling where he was feeling the most pain. Slightly embarrassed, the younger Elric quieted, and moved his arm towards the injured area to inspect the wound, but he was met by the tattooed arm pushing away his own and a breathless grunt of "I'm fine."

Al's concern was evident, though of course, he could form no facial expression on his face. He sat down next to Scar on the bed as softly as he could, but of course, his weight caused Scar to shift slightly, eliciting a small wince from the Ishbalan.

"Please move your arm, Scar...Let me take a look at that wound..."

" 'M fine," he muttered again, but was too tired to argue, and let his arm slide down from the spot it was currently clutching at. He simply nodded at the 'thank you, Scar' that followed--his vision was starting to get hazy again...he'd probably soon pass out once more. The cold metal felt nice lying on his throbbing side, and the ease of tension in his muscles was very noticeable, especially in his face. His jaw had been tightly clenched a few moments prior, lips firmly pursed. For just a moment, as the taut facial muscles relaxed, the Ishbalan looked a great deal older.

"Are the bandages too tight for you, Scar?" Al questioned, keeping his hand on the man's injured side (as when he had tried to retract it, he had heard a very quiet whimper escape from the Ishbalan).

"...Bandages?" Red eyes fell down to peer at his torso, and he noticed it. The lower half of his shirt was separated from the upper, and appeared to have been wrapped around his chest about one-and-a-half times as one very large bandage.

Al seemed rather nervous at this point, and spoke very quickly. "Y-yeah, you were...bleeding in the alley, and we didn't have any bandages on hand, so Brother transmuted your shirt into one."

"Oh."

If he could, Al would've blinked. 'Oh'? That was all? He wasn't going to be upset about using alchemy on him without his permission? He wasn't going to rant about how alchemy was evil and a perversion of God's world? "You...don't mind, then?"

Scar didn't answer at first, and then turned his crimson gaze to the side to stare out the window. "You and your brother saved my life. I can't exactly complain..." He sighed, and wearily closed his eyes again.

The younger Elric nodded, and decided to say no more, figuring that Scar was exhausted and probably didn't want to talk further, but in a moment, the Ishbalan spoke up again.

"...Why...did you save me?"

Al froze at the question. He turned his head away briefly and hesitated for quite a while before finally speaking. But even when he did, he avoided the original question.

"Brother of course didn't think it was right for you to bleed to death, but he wanted to just leave you there afterwards. I had to beg him to let me take you back with us."

A slight gasp of surprise escaped Scar. Al had _begged_ Edward to bring him to headquarters? The younger Elric boy had actually pleaded on his behalf? That was certainly strange...

"Huh."

The slightest trace of a smile pulled at the corner of his lips despite the pain. Still, Al had avoided the question, and he was curious to know why. "...That's nice, but you still haven't answered my question."

Alphonse whimpered slightly, and started to twiddle his metal fingers as he turned his head towards the window. "Well..." he started hesitantly, "I mean, I'd say that it was to repay you for Lab 5--that's what I told Brother to finally convince him...There's little you _can't_ convince him of when you start talking equivalent exchange--but..." Al paused for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. "But it's--it's more than that. I...I didn't...want you to die, Scar."

The Ishbalan's eyes, which had been lightly closed up until this point, instantly snapped open at these words, and he proceeded to stare at the animated suit of armor for several long moments. The shock was so clearly evident in the man's face, Al almost felt bad for saying it. But right now, Scar wasn't paying attention to anything but his own racing thoughts. Alphonse didn't want him to die? But...but he had tried to _kill_ his brother. Had almost succeeded, and had almost killed _him!_

"Y-y-you...but...I..." he seemed to fight with his own mouth, struggling to form a coherent sentence rather than the gibberish he was babbling at the moment. "..._Why?_" he finally managed to ask after a little while.

Al thought on that for a while. Why _did_ he seem to care so much for the Ishbalan? The boy really wasn't sure--he had never needed a reason to like someone before. Perhaps it was just something about Scar that he identified with? They were both younger brothers, they both had a strong sense of justice (though their methods of securing it were, needless to say, very different), they both had some questions about their identity.

"I guess...it's because..." he began, but trailed off when he saw that Scar had already fallen asleep. Poor man was exhausted, he guessed. He ran a metallic hand gently through the sleeping man's hair a few times, wondering how he and Ed were going to keep Scar's presence in the building a secret long enough for the Ishbalan to recover, what with the colonel there, and Hughes, and Armstrong...

He was brought out of his reverie by the sound of a doorknob turning. Al flinched slightly, but relaxed as soon as the familiar blonde midget appeared at the doorway, quickly shutting the door behind him as he entered.

"Damn it, I thought that colonel would _never_ shut up! I swear, Mustang just likes to hear himself talk--"

"Shh! He's asleep," Al shushed, putting a finger to where his lips would be if he still had a real body.

Ed instantly lowered his voice. "Oh. Sorry," he stepped towards the bed, where the now-peacefully-sleeping Ishbalan lay. They'd probably need to get some real bandages soon. The corner of his shirt-turned-bandage was soaked with blood already, and was starting to stain both his yellow coat and the white bedsheets. "So, I take it he already woke up once?" he asked, keeping his voice to a quiet whisper.

Al nodded. "Yeah. He figured out pretty quickly where he was, and then he asked why we saved him. He seemed to be in a lot of pain, Brother..."

Ed nodded gravely, not bothering to ask what his brother's response to the question had been. "Being shot in the side'll do that to you," he remarked, remembering the bullet he'd noticed lodged in the opposite wall. "And...was he mad about the alchemy we did on his shirt?"

To the older Elric's surprise, his brother shook his head. "No. He said we saved his life, so he couldn't really complain about how we did it." Al decided to keep silent about the incident in the alley, not wanting to alarm Ed at the moment.

The two brothers might have conversed a bit longer, but they were interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. Both Ed and Al panicked, and Ed rushed to the door as Al rapidly moved to stand in front of Scar. He didn't have time to open up his chest plate and stuff the Ishbalan inside, after all. Deciding not to chance it, Ed quickly opened the door and went outside, shutting the door behind him and pressing his back up against it. He was greeted by the grinning face of Lieutenant Havoc, that same cigarette still hanging from his mouth.

"Hey Ed. Good to see ya; you seem to be in a bit better mood than before." The lieutenant chuckled a bit, and then got to his point. "Anyway, Ed the colonel told me to remind you: your yearly assessment is coming up."

Ed returned Havoc's grin, and added a nervous laugh as he pressed his back more tightly against the door behind him. "O-Oh, yeah. Well, uh. Tell the colonel thanks for reminding me and I'll talk to him later." With that, he quickly reopened the door and shut himself back inside before the lieutenant could say another word, leaving him wondering what just happened.

"Phew. That...was...so...close..." Ed panted, leaning against the door and sighing in relief. Just as he had stepped away from the door, another man was making his way up the stairs. This man was none other than Colonel Roy Mustang.

"Hey, Colonel," his lieutenant greeted, lifting a hand in a wave, "I just talked to Ed. He--"

But Mustang put up a hand to stop him. "I'll just ask him myself. I realized I forgot to tell him something. Why don't you go ahead and take lunch early? I've got things here." Havoc seemed surprised, but nodded, and walked away. Ed and Al had practically no warning as the colonel opened the door, and stepped nonchalantly inside.

"Ed, I forgot to mention earlier--" He cut himself off mid-sentence and froze when he saw who was in the room besides the Elric brothers: Scar.


	6. Chapter 6: Grounded

**A/N: Holy _crap_, I had _no_ idea I was this late in updating! I'm extremely sorry, everyone who's been waiting on this story! I've had really terrible block on this story for months, coupled with college applications and bucketloads of homework (don't ever take art history unless it is _really_ your thing. xD), and I've had no time at all to update. I apologize, once again! I just yesterday realized that I have all of four days to finish the next seven chapters because of a personal goals assignment in my writing class, so I suppose I'm making up for my horrific slowness with several very rapid updates. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Also! A shout-out to my friends Flags, Taisa, and Lin, who've given me ideas to help me re-inspire myself for this story and awaken my sleeping FMA muse. xD You guys are awesome~! -heart sign-**

Chapter 6: Grounded

For a moment that seemed to last an eternity, silence reigned in the room where the unconscious Scar lay beside the Fullmetal Alchemist. Mustang, cut off mid-sentence by what he saw, simply stared, the corner of his left eye twitching slightly. His mouth remained slightly open from when he had made to speak, not having thought to close it yet. Ed and Al seemed frozen as well, as two pairs of eyes full of surprise and fear peered into a third pair. Nobody moved, and for a time, it seemed nobody breathed.

And then, all at once, the spell was broken. The two brothers snapped out of their reverie, sparing each other a quick glance before bursting into explanations.

"Colonel, we can explain!"

"It's not what it looks like--"

"Edward. Alphonse." Just two words were spoken, but the tone was dead serious. The very look in his onyx eyes, now recovered from their initial shock, spoke bloody murder, causing the room to seem to drop 20 degrees in temperature. His mouth was definitively shut this time, his jaw tight; the colonel was visibly restraining his temper, and there was no guarantee as to how long the calm before the storm would last.

Then he resumed speaking. "My office. Now."

"But Colonel! We--"

"_Now._"

"But--"

"NOW. That is an ORDER, Fullmetal!"

The Elric brothers were shocked into silence at the sudden elevation in volume, and began to comply, shuffling towards the doorway where their colonel now stood. When they were satisfactorily near, Mustang turned, and began walking, peering over his shoulder to make sure Ed and Al were following. They walked in painful silence for a few minutes, their only companion being the sound of their footsteps echoing in the hallway.

They were interrupted by a familiarly cheerful voice. It seemed Hughes wasn't having quite enough...fun swapping Elysia stories with Armstrong's "passed down the Armstrong line for generations" stories, and decided to amuse himself by telling some to Roy.

"Rooooooyy!" he crowed excitedly, wrapping an arm around his friend's shoulder, "C'mere, lemme show you something!" Normally, Roy was content to humor his exuberant friend, but right now, he was simply _not_ in the mood to deal with Maes's arsenal of photographs. "Not...now...Maes," he hissed, taking deep breaths through his clenched teeth in an attempt to remain calm.

"Now's our chance to make a break for it, Al," Ed whispered to his brother while Mustang was distracted. They only got about two steps before a small, but perfectly aimed crackle of fire hit the ground at their feet and promptly died out, signaling that the colonel was not quite as distracted as they had thought. The fact that Al's "tiptoeing" consisted of 'clank, clank, clank' didn't help matters either.

Maes feigned hurt at having his precious pictures of Elysia ignored, and sulked off to show them to whatever other victim--er, soldier, would not know to quickly excuse themselves...new recruits would probably do, the lieutenant colonel mused to himself.

Mustang marched the Elric brothers the rest of the way into his office, where First Lieutenant Hawkeye was waiting for him. She briskly walked up to him. "Sir, there are some important papers you need to look at," she informed him, tone all business.

The look on her superior's face was strained. "Now...isn't--"

Hawkeye noticed his tightening jaw and furrowing brow before he even finished the sentence. "I understand, sir," she amended with a nod, "When it's convenient, then." She gave him a quick salute and stepped out of the room as Mustang proceeded to shut the door behind her and lock it, hoped Hawkeye would be able to keep away anyone who would be tempted to eavesdrop on them.

"Colonel, before you get mad--"

"Mad?" Mustang interrupted, still suppressing the urge to shout his head off and allow even those that just happened to be walking by his office to hear, "I'm _ten miles_ beyond mad--absolutely furious wouldn't even cover it! What were you thinking?!"

"Well--"

"No, don't _answer_ that, Edward! Whatever it is, you shouldn't have been thinking it!"

Ed continued anyway. "We were thinking about upholding Equivalent Exchange, Colonel," he said firmly, defiance in his eyes despite the fact he knew he and Al were in major trouble. The colonel's brows furrowed further, but he allowed Edward to continue for the moment.

"We wanted to repay Scar for Lab 5. We--"

"He saved our lives in that mess," Al piped up, "And then we saw him bleeding in the alley...and he would've _died_ if we didn't help him!"

Mustang opened his mouth to answer, but shut it quickly, knowing he needed a moment to collect himself so as to not disintegrate into yelling. The elder man rubbed his temples in clear frustration. "...So," he finally answered, voice cold as ice and probably more unsettling than when he sounded overtly angry, "You thought you could do that by bringing the _number one military enemy_ to a military headquarters?!"

"We didn't know what else to do, Colonel, " Ed answered, "it's not like any hospital would've taken him."

"And you didn't think of _asking_ me first?!"

"You would've said no!"

"Damn right, I would have! Taking him here is not _only_ a _massive_ breach of protocol, but the most dangerous place for him in all of Central!" He slammed his hands against the desk as he got up. "Do you even have any _idea_ what would have happened if it hadn't been me who saw him? At the very least you would have lost your certification, and you almost certainly would have spent some time in jail. I couldn't even fight on your behalf in that situation, Edward, because this is _Scar_ we're talking about!" He sighed, and walked over to Ed so that he was towering directly over the teenage alchemist, his own dark eyes piercing directly into Ed's own amber hues.

"And what about your goals?" he asked gravely, "Is upholding an abstract concept such as Equivalency--

"It's not abstract!"

"Is it worth giving up the chance to search for the stone and restore your bodies?"

"Well..."

"You made 'a promise to the only family you had' to become a state alchemist, is that not what you told us at the State Alchemy Exam, Edward? So that you could restore your bodies. How did you plan to do that if your misplaced morality got you arrested?"

"Please Colonel, don't blame Brother." Al had spoken up again. "It was my idea. Brother was against it, but I begged him to go with it because--"

"I don't care if it was _God's_ idea. It showed extremely bad judgment on Edward's part to go along with it. And though I won't of course be as hard on you as some of the higher ups might have been, there _are_ going to be consequences."

The brothers exchanged nervous glances. Other than being yelled at, the two had never actually been _punished_ by the colonel.

"Edward, your watch."

The teenage alchemist paled. "Wh-what?!"

"Your watch, Edward."

"N-no! You can't do that!" he cried, clutching the silver object in his pocket tightly, afraid that loosening his grip even slightly would mean losing the watch. "You said that...that you..." he trailed off, a look of pure horror on his features. Was Mustang serious? Would he really...?

"As your superior officer, I'm _temporarily_ suspending your certification. Two weeks, Edward. For two weeks, you won't be the Fullmetal Alchemist. That means no Central Library, either. Now, the watch, Edward."

Ed reluctantly pulled the watch out of his pocket and slowly laid it on the table. He wanted to mumble something about 'don't look inside', but he didn't want to make Mustang suspicious. Even though all that was to be seen was the date he and Al burned down their house, Ed was still self-conscious about anyone seeing it; he hadn't shown it even to Al.

Mustang picked up the watch, and stuffed it into his own pocket without even a second glance. He was still a little upset at Edward for his foolishness (though he could admit at least to himself that he was relieved that the brothers were unharmed), but a lot less angry. He unlocked the door for Ed and Al, and just as they were leaving, added one more detail.

"Oh, one more thing. You're not to leave headquarters for the first week, or Central for the second. Understand, you two?" The Elric brothers grumbled slightly, but nodded. It could have been worse, after all. And it wasn't as if they didn't understand his reasoning--it was so at least one of them would remain with Scar at all times to prevent some other officer that didn't know them on a personal level from finding him.

"Ah well, Al. I guess it could've been worse. But Mustang didn't have to take my watch," he commented on their way back.

"On the bright side, at least we'll get a break for a while, right?"

"Yeah, but being idle makes me all fidgety!" Ed complained with a dramatic sigh.

The pair made their way up the stairs back to their room, and were surprised to find Scar awake, and apparently awaiting their return to the room.

"So...what happened?"

Ed and Al exchanged glances once more, and, putting away their surprise for the time being, Ed answered. "Well, basically...we're grounded."


	7. Chapter 7: Lockdown

**A/N: Weeeelll. I tried to get all seven updates done by today, but I failed. Epically. I only got halfway through. D: But at least you still get three updates at once! -rotten tomatoes are thrown- Anyway, enjoy. I had fun writing them despite being pressed for time. ^_^**

Chapter 7: Lockdown

"I can live with that, I suppose."

It had taken several minutes of explanation on the part of the Elric brothers, but Scar was now finally aware of the full situation, and, if not exactly 'content,' at the least, the Ishbalan was not completely dissatisfied with the situation. Scar evidently had been awake since Havoc had first knocked on the door, having sarcastically stated that 'if he could sleep through noises as loud as shouting and doors slamming, he would have been dead a long time ago.'

He had simply pretended to still be unconscious, fearing finding himself at the mercy of the Flame Alchemist. Scar did not like being so weak and helpless as he was now. Just sitting up right now was an effort; if he were to stand, he doubted he'd last for more than a minute before his knees buckled. He would not allow himself to show such weakness in front of an enemy. Granted, he doubted Mustang was the type to exploit the weakness of an injured man (even the state military, as corrupt as he knew it to be, still considered kicking someone while they were down as bad form--a pity not everyone _in_ lived to such a high moral standard), but he refused to fight his instincts any further than he already had to in preventing himself from attempting what would assuredly be a suicidal escape attempt. Scar was a marked man, both literally and figuratively; he would be shot down before he even made it down the stairs. Alternatively, jumping out the window was _not_ an option this time around, not in his condition.

"That's good to hear, Scar," Al answered, breaking the momentary silence, "How are you feeling? Any better?"

If it hadn't been Alphonse, he likely would have snapped at the one who asked. It'd only been a few hours since he had been injured, and he hadn't been conscious/functioning for long after that. He hadn't had time to 'feel better.'

"I'm fine," he answered coldly. It was an obvious lie, but the subtext was as clear as if he had written it out on a banner: _'I don't feel like answering. Don't ask me again.'_

The tension in the room lasted a good few minutes, before a knock on the door sounded. All three heads snapped towards the sound.

"Just a minute!"

"We have to hide him! What are we gonna do, Brother?"

The two scattered around and out of desperation, finally threw a blanket over him and had him lie down (which Scar found monumentally stupid as a means of actually hiding him, but there wasn't the time to argue). Al then sat down on the bed while Ed went to open the door. He was greeted by the smiling face of none other than...Maes Hughes?

"Hughes...what are you doing here?" Ed asked, somewhat nervously.

"Just reporting for jailer duty, Ed," he said with a grin, " 'ccording to Roy, I'm supposed to make sure you two don't try to sneak out a window or something."  
Al waved sheepishly from his corner of the bed as Ed affected a shaky laugh. It wouldn't even take someone from Investigations like Hughes to understand that they were hiding something.

"Hey, don't look so worried, you two. I know who's here with you, and I'm not telling anyone!"

The brothers relaxed, and Al promptly rose, realizing much to his chagrin that his weight on the blanket had effectively trapped the Ishbalan.

The next few hours passed quickly. Ed and Al always felt at ease around the lieutenant colonel. They had been good friends ever since the incident on the train. Heck, they'd even helped deliver his wife's baby. It was easy for the duo to forget that their close friend was in the military, and they did, sometimes, especially when the identifying blue jacket wasn't on. He rarely acted as if he was as high-ranking as he actually was, and protocol was largely forgotten around him. Even when something was serious, there was always a sense of levity about him. It was as if his very aura exuded joy and happiness, causing it in others like laughing gas.

Scar remained silent throughout the entire encounter, but for the sound of cloth shifting as he attempted to go back to sleep. He soon discovered he couldn't, even though he was plenty tired enough, and that shifting around only made him much more uncomfortable. Frustrated, the Ishbalan settled for staring at the ceiling and counting the square tiles (and then the dots in the square tiles) along it in the hopes it would lull him to sleep. The Elric brothers and Hughes seemed too wrapped up in their conversation to notice him. Which was just fine with Scar; the less people noticed him, the better for him, he figured.

But in itself, the conversation had a rhythmic, almost soothing flow to it. When Scar gave up counting dots and allowed his mind to idle, he found himself being almost hypnotized by it, as a metronome might do to someone. Just as he was starting to fall asleep, it ended, Hughes getting up to leave.

"Well, I've got to be getting home. G'night Ed, Al," he said as he raised his hand in a wave. He then turned to Scar, and wished him good night as well, receiving only a cursory grunt in answer.

"Don't go doing anything crazy now, you two. Roy'll have my head if you two sneak out on me." He chuckled a bit, hazel eyes twinkling.

"We won't, Hughes! Promise! Right, Brother?"

"Yeah, yeah! Good night, and tell Gracia and Elysia we say hello!"

"Of course!"

---

After he was gone, Scar's valiant attempts at sleep were interrupted yet again. Scar was about ready to scream in frustration: he was exhausted; his whole body felt heavy and leaden, but every time he got close to slipping away into sleep, something or another happened to jolt him into awareness. This time it was Alphonse's sudden weight on the bed that awakened him.

"We're so lucky that Hughes is our supervision this week--I guess the colonel wasn't _too_ mad at us."

"Heh, yeah. Imagine if it was Armstrong or something!" Ed didn't need to elaborate, and the two of them shared a chuckle about the pink-sparkly horror that would be.

Scar couldn't take it any more. He violently twisted onto his side in an attempt to muffle all the noise, an audible 'agh!' sounding from the pain he inflicted on himself in doing so.

It took a few seconds, but all at once it sunk in for Ed and Al.

"Oh. Sorry about that. We'll be quiet for ya," Ed assured him with a grin as he crossed the room to the couch.

Alphonse didn't move away immediately, and instead reached over to gently tug the Ishbalan onto his back again, figuring he would be more comfortable in that position. Scar stiffened against the sudden touch and scowled darkly.

"What are you doing?"

If Al still had a human face, he would have blanched at the tone. "Well...I..I thought..." he looked down, somewhat disheartened. "I thought you'd be more comfortable on your back."

Scar blinked. His natural instinct was to say no and resist, as he had earlier that afternoon--he felt uneasy about someone being even that close, let alone touching him, especially when his only defense was the alchemy in his right arm. Being at the mercy of anyone, even those that had saved his life in the first place, was unnerving for Scar. He forced himself to swallow the fear. He had to remember this was _Alphonse Elric._ Alphonse wouldn't hurt him. He never hurt anyone--or anything--unless protecting himself or his brother.

He nodded at Al, giving the boy the go-ahead to turn him back over, though he flinched instinctively as the animated suit of armor did so. The young man was surprisingly gentle, despite the armor's bulk and size; it was almost as if he were picking up a wounded bird and not a man, as careful as Al was with him.

"Is that better, Scar?"

He opened his mouth to answer in the affirmative, but he was suddenly overcome with such a massive wave of exhaustion that he only managed to mumble something incoherent before finally drifting off into the sleep that had eluded him for hours.


	8. Chapter 8: Families

Chapter 8: Families

Scar awakened the next morning in a noticeably better mood. The curtains were drawn, so he couldn't see how bright it was outside, but he did notice that Ed and Al weren't in the room. That...was certainly odd; he hadn't expected to be left alone, in case someone were to come in and see him. Crimson eyes scanned and re-scanned the room, trying to see if he had missed something. He hadn't. Finally, he decided not to put too much thought into it. They were smart kids; he was sure that they had locked the door, and were planning to come back shortly.

Just as those thoughts were going through his head, he heard, then saw, the doorknob handle turning. _That must be them now..._ he mused. It could have been instinct or a (possibly misplaced) sense of manners that drove him to sit up immediately, but he soon found the action to be a bad idea--a small pained noise escaping before he collapsed back onto the bed. When his vision cleared, he turned his attention back to the door, expecting to see the blond-haired teenager and his brother come in. But instead of the familiar red jacket of Edward Elric, the one who walked through the door was clad in the navy blue of the Amestrian military. Scar's face darkened considerably.

"Good morning, Scar!" Again with that ridiculous exuberance. Did the lieutenant colonel really expect to gain his trust through kind words and a friendly disposition alone? "Did you sleep well?"

There was no answer at first, but then he nodded slowly.

"That's good to hear." Maes's grin widened slightly as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "Al tell me you snore quite a bit when you sleep," he continued, a twinkle in his eye, "Though, not as loud as Ed does."

Scar didn't see fit to dignify that with any kind of response at all this time.

"By the way, you sure make a good kitten, Scar. None of us had any idea it was _you_ Al was sneaking into headquarters instead of a cat like usual."

Scar could see that Hughes was trying hard to make him feel at ease. Really hard. But the Ishbalan didn't trust him. He couldn't. Maes Hughes was a member of the military, which meant he considered Scar an enemy, even if he himself only targeted state _alchemists_.

"Where _is_ Alphonse? And Edward for that matter?" he asked, suspicion brewing in his crimson eyes.

The lieutenant colonel's grin was faltering slightly; the other man's obvious distrust was somewhat disheartening, but he still attempted to sound friendly. "Oh...they're having lunch. Are you hungry? I could probably sneak you something from the mess hall if you are."

Scar blinked, too surprised to immediately reject the offer. "Lunch? What about...breakfast?"

"It's half-past twelve, Scar. You slept through breakfast." Seeing the look on his face, Hughes kept talking. "The curtains were kept shut so the sun wouldn't wake you up too early." The grin faltered yet more as he garnered no response from the statement. Scar was certainly going to make this an uphill battle for him, wasn't he?

Scar finally decided to take pity on the struggling lieutenant colonel and decided to let the soldier know he wasn't interested in any form of interaction with him. "You _can_ just ignore me you know. You're only supposed to make sure I don't kill anyone while I'm here, right? You can do that without talking to me."

Maes flinched at the incredible sense of bitterness in his voice. His face fell completely this time, now wearing a defeated expression. The Ishbalan even felt somewhat guilty as the man stepped out of the room without another word. He hoped that would mean Hughes would leave him alone from that point forth.

He learned the hard way that the lieutenant colonel was not one to give up so easily. About ten minutes later, Hughes came _back_ in carrying a tray of food...which he then laid gently on the man's lap. Scar had to admire his persistence, but he simply shook his head, shifting his gaze to the window. In all honesty, he _was_ hungry; it had been over a day since he'd last had anything to eat at all (not that he ever had particularly filling meals). But something in his pride refused, negating Maes's attempts at being personable.

"You have to eat, Scar," he prodded, giving the tray a slight nudge.

"...Why are you doing this?" he finally asked. Hughes was caught off guard by the question. He was silent for a moment, seeming to ponder on this.

"Because...I can see that being effectively trapped in a military headquarters must be unnerving for you, and there's nothing wrong with trying to make you more comfortable with the situation is there? Like they say, a little kindness goes a long way, right?"

Scar just stared. Thoughts of what Alphonse had said about why he saved him flashed into his mind--this kindness didn't make sense. The fact that he had done nothing to merit it made him want to believe he was being led into a trap, but he could feel the sincerity in their voices. Both had been taking aback by the question; both had needed a moment to think before answering.

Hughes sighed. Scar just wasn't willing to trust him--he could hardly blame the man, considering what had happened in Ishbal, but it still hurt for his good intentions to be suspect in the other man's eyes.

"...But...you should _hate_ me. I'm _Scar_, remember?"

Once again, Hughes seemed surprised, but the response was easier this time. "When it comes down to it, we're all human, aren't we? All of us have made mistakes--I've done my share of bad things too. When you're a soldier, the word 'murder' starts to lose its meaning after a few years."

"I see. So, you're not afraid I'll kill you?"

"Why would you? According to you, your only opponents are state alchemists. I see no reason not to believe you." He grinned slightly, and added, "Plus, it'd be pretty damned low of me to suggest that you would do something like that when you're in a situation like you are now, and injured on top of that."

There was a considerable break in the tension at that, and the pair fell easily into conversation. The time seemed to slip away as they conversed, on numerous subjects--ideology, alchemy...even the heady subject of Ishbal was broached gently. Strangely enough, it was a picture that broke the comfortable ease they were sharing with each other. At some point in the conversation, the topic had shifted to families. Scar could handle it when they were just talking, but when he saw the giggling little girl next to her two broadly-smiling parents, something tore at Scar's heart, and a surge of jealousy and bitterness burned through him. He wanted to destroy that picture. He wanted--he _needed_ to make it go away, and restraining himself was a great effort.

Hughes only needed one look at his face to see he'd made a mistake. Of course--considering how important his own family was to him, how could he not expect Scar to be emotional about the family he had lost? Scar was very obviously struggling to refrain from having a breakdown. "I'm sorry," he whispered gently. Out of respect, he got up and walked over to the other side of the room with his back to Scar, allowing him the opportunity to cry without the humiliation of being watched.

A few minutes of silence followed, occasionally punctuated by a harsh intake of breath, and then Scar spoke, in a voice that sounded so broken that Hughes regretted ever showing him the picture in the first place. "Y-Your...wife and daughter...are beautiful. You're a lucky man."

Hughes wasn't sure quite what to say. "Thanks...I--I'm sorry; I didn't mean to dredge up painful memories, Scar." No answer. Still, he felt he needed to say more, so he continued, albeit somewhat nervously. "Listen. Scar. I know that...a lot of little girls...like Elysia...suffered...er, there. And. That we...caused a lot of it, but. What I'm trying to say is, Roy--and I--don't want to have to do something like that again. He wants to become Fuhrer so that he doesn't have to. And I want to help him achieve it...even if it means, ah, playing by the current rules."

The room was entirely silent for a moment, and then...

"Heh. And here I had always figured the Flame to be a _realist._"

For the second time that afternoon, the tension defused. Maes had a chuckle about the cynical quality of that statement, and his improved mood affected Scar, who had managed to compose himself by that point. It was about this point that Ed and Al returned as well.

"What kept you two?" the lieutenant colonel asked as the pair walked in.

"Ugh. Some idiot private tripped and fell, and knocked over most of the food--the cook had to make just about everything fresh."

"What did you guys do while we were gone?" Al asked earnestly.

"Talked, mostly. And tried to make this guy eat." That second part was stated with a lighthearted poke at Scar's stomach. "Speaking of which, you still haven't touched your lunch."

"It's a bit hard to talk with your mouth full, unfortunately." The other three laughed.

---

"Brother! You're cheating again!"

"No I'm not! You can't prove it!" He raised his arm in a mock attempt to shake his fist "angrily" at the accusation, upon which aces of three different suits slid out. Hughes chuckled. Even Scar grinned slightly. Upon running out of things all four of them could talk about, they'd settled into playing card games. Currently they were playing poker, a game Ed was notorious among those who knew him for cheating at.

Scar had even made a crack at one point that they were lucky they weren't playing Strip Poker. The expression on Ed's face was absolutely priceless. Right now, it was just the three of them; Hughes had briefly gone home to get some dinner for the remaining trio--some _"real"_ food, as he called it--leaving the three to play cards by themselves. Scar had even found out from the exchange of banter just before Hughes left that Ed hated milk, which, he mused to himself, might have something to do with his...vertical challenges. Scar was having such..._fun_, it was almost hard for Scar to believe this was really happening to him, as opposed to being a really nice part of a dream before the scene became nightmarish. It would be disappointing once the week ended, and the Elric brothers would be clear to help him leave. He briefly pondered the idea of not leaving, of staying, concealed in the Elric brothers' room for the rest of his days...he knew it was impossible, but he wanted more than anything to have more moments like this, to live life like a normal person who hadn't gotten his life turned upside down by war. A desire surely to remain unfulfilled, but the thought created a comfortable warmth in his chest that he clung to with everything he had.

It was the first time in years he had truly felt human again.

**A/N: I'm really happy with how this chapter turned out eventually. Even though Scar switched moods like, four times through the piece (Hehehe. Scar has mood swings. XP), it ended up really fluffy and sweet. Hope you guys liked it too~~  
**


	9. Chapter 9: Kidnapped

Chapter 9: Kidnapped

The week went by surprisingly fast. Nothing all too significant happened during that period--Scar got an opportunity to actually meet Elysia, they Elric brothers got an irate phone call from one Winry Rockbell demanding that they call more often and try to send _some_ kind of word as to how they're doing once in a while, Roy evidently got in a lot of trouble with his lieutenant for 'accidentally' setting a stack of paperwork aflame.

In the meantime, most of Scar's wounds had healed, and he had gotten strong enough by this time to walk on his own without the need to lean on something for support. He still had to take it easy though, in case he damaged the still fragile bones and damaged tissue by overexerting himself.

Ed and Al were still technically 'grounded', but at least now they had the freedom to move about the city, which meant they were going to sneak him back out of headquarters and let him go somewhere where no one would see him. The Ishbalan knew it had to happen, but he couldn't help being disappointed when Roy finally gave the two the go-ahead to leave headquarters when they wanted. On the understanding that they were not to leave Central. The fact that the colonel still had Ed's watch was essentially a guarantee that they would abide by Mustang's terms.

Riding inside Alphonse's armor was no walk in the park either. Not only was there the worry of being seen or caught somehow, riding _inside_ a person just had a certain creep-out factor to it.

Checking to make sure no one was in the alley watching besides him and Scar, Al carefully opened the chest plate of the armor, even more carefully pulling Scar out so that he wouldn't have to scramble and struggle to do it.

"Take care of yourself, Scar," the boy said gently. The older man nodded, and turned to leave when Al continued to talk. "It's...too bad you can't stay with us, Scar. This week has been pretty fun."

The Ishbalan's jaw tightened. So, Alphonse had been thinking it too. Of course, he said nothing; he knew he wasn't meant to stay with them--he'd actively antagonized them in the past, and it was too late to go back now, however much he might want to pursue a more 'normal' life.

Scar was about to walk away and resign himself from settling back into the old pattern of hiding about in the shadows and alleyways when suddenly there was a tremendous thud and a clinking of metal. As he turned to see the source of the sound, something slammed into his back and he fell down. The blow wasn't hard enough to knock him out, however, and he lifted his head enough to see several thugs trying to restrain a struggling Alphonse. There was a restraining force keeping his body pressed to the ground.

"What do you want with Alphonse?" he demanded of the thugs.

The one in the back with the leather trenchcoat--the only one of the gang who was not actively involved in restraining Al or himself--was the one to answer him. "What do we _want_? Oh, nothing much. Only what any normal man wants--money, power, that type of thing." The tone of his voice made Scar want to punch his face in. He walked over to the Ishbalan, nonchalant as he could be, and kneeled down to make eye contact with the pinned man. From up close, Scar could see the alchemic tattoos printed on the fingerless gloves on his hands--that would explain why he was much less bulky than his thugs.

"The tin can will make an excellent ransom. Considering his brother is the famous Fullmetal alchemist, we should get a _pretty_ penny out of him wanting to get his _dear_ brother back. Considering we know just how to kill him, that is. And won't hesitate to do it, either." Scar glared daggers into the man's eyes, but he only seemed amused. "And as for you, my dear Ishbalan friend," he continued, tilting Scar's chin up with a finger, "We know how badly the military wants you captured, and we're willing to trade for ranks of power. Or the most exorbitant sum the state can afford. Or both. Depending on how generous we're feeling." His smirk rapidly turned into an ugly scowl. "Don't give me that look like you're worth any more than a bargaining chip, rat. You're a special case, being worth anything at all; most of the other rats aren't even worth capturing. All they're worth is killing."

In that moment, Scar saw red. Each of the individual stabs against his people was enough to make him gnash his teeth with fury, but combined, and with the threat of Alphonse getting hurt or killed, by the time he got to the last sentence, Scar's temper exploded. Restrained as he was, he couldn't reach out his arm far enough to blast off the man's leg, but he did make full use of the alchemy, splitting the ground before him and causing the trenchcoat-wearer to fall. He took advantage of their surprise that he wasn't _completely_ immobile at the moment to kick he restrainer and wrench himself out of his grasp.

Once he was free, Scar could fight on his own terms. His speed and reflexes were impressive for one who had, only days ago, been unable to walk properly, and Scar managed to knock down three of the thugs and had reached Alphonse before a fourth caught him by surprise and tripped him. From that position, he was kicked into the wall a little less than a foot away.

He uttered a soft cry as he made impact, but managed to get up again. However, this time, he was standing from sheer force of will. Two of his more severe wounds had reopened and he was fairly sure he had re-cracked a rib.

Alphonse had still been struggling up to this point, but when he saw Scar get kicked into the wall, and further, wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth as he staggered to his feet, the younger Elric begged for the fighting to stop. "Please! Don't hurt him! I'll go quietly--please, he's still somewhat injured!"

To the thugs, Al's pleas fell on deaf ears, but to Scar, the touching, selfless behest was all the more reason for him to kick the sorry asses of the bastards that jumped them. He charged at the nearest one, managing to land a blow on his stomach and chest, but the other three promptly battered him to the ground. Never willing to give up, Scar forced himself upright once again. But by now it was clear the battle was over; Scar's legs were trembling as it held his torso up and he was swaying dangerously. He was running out of strength fast. The man with the trenchcoat, apparently not completely lacking in physical strength after all, took the liberty of delivering the final blow, by knocking him into the wall again. With even more force, this time, as he was closer to the wall.

"Leave him," he commanded the other men, "We need one of 'em to leave the ransom note with."

Scar's vision spun and dissolved out of focus as the man finally lost consciousness and slumped against the wall that he'd been thrown against. The last thing he saw before passing out was Alphonse being hauled off...


End file.
